Representatives from 11 Latin American countries united this week in Costa Rica for a workshop on preventing torture organized by the United Nations and the Swiss nonprofit Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT).

Human rights experts from around the region visited Costa Rican prisons including La Reforma Penitentiary and Buen Pastor women's prison. They also toured a shelter for “immigrants in transit” in the San José suburb of Hatillo, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

Afterwards, the group made a few suggestions about how to improve the services offered there.

The goal of the meeting was to standardize regional criteria for the treatment of detainees and correct negative practices implemented in some countries, explained Claudia Gérez, a representative of the association.

Costa Rica was chosen to host the event because of its role as a leading protector of human rights in the treatment of prisoners. The country has also traditionally dealt with a large number of illegal immigrants.

-Tico Times